MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Cuban forces foil attempt to hijack a civilian aircraft

Fugitive Cuban army recruits killed a military officer they took hostage early Thursday in a failed attempt to hijack a plane bound for the United States according to a release from the Interior Ministry. Two of the escaped recruits were arrested after Army Lt. Col. Victor Ibo Acuña Velazquez was killed in the aborted hijacking.

The incident began in the pre-dawn hours when the fugitive recruits took control of a bus carrying several passengers to get to a plane on the tarmac. "Despite being unarmed, (Acuña) heroically tried to prevent the commission of the terrorist act" the statement said. Others being held hostage on the bus were unharmed. The two arrested were among three army recruits who escaped from their military base on Sunday after killing a fellow soldier and wounding another before fleeing with automatic rifles. The third was captured earlier, the ministry statement said. The three had been the focus of a huge manhunt. The Defence Ministry over the weekend distributed circulars around Havana, describing the fugitives as armed and dangerous and saying they were sought for abandoning their posts. Some circulars were displayed in public places, including post offices. Throughout the day Thursday, there were rampant rumours of a shooting at the airport but the Cuban government and its official media were silent. Later Thursday, all was calm and there was no increased police presence at the airport's Terminal 2, which services charter flights between Havana and Miami. People living close to the airport say they heard sustained gunfire in the early hours of the morning, close to the terminal used for flights to Miami. Apparently the fugitives were intending to board a Boeing 737. This was the first reported hijacking attempt in Cuba since 2003. In March of that year two planes were seized in separate incidents, one of which was flown to Key West in Florida with 31 people on board. The following month, three men hijacked a small ferry boat in Havana in an attempt to cross the Florida Straits. They were captured, tried and executed by firing squad in a matter of days.